Honors organization for business earns national recognition

After a flurry of activity and recruitment, the chapter jumped past distinguished status to the superior level, earning them the “most improved” distinction.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Business chapter of Beta Alpha Psi was named most improved chapter and granted superior status by the international honorary and service organization for accounting, finance and information system students and professionals.

The chapter set a goal for the 2012-13 academic year to raise its national profile and improve its status from mission-based – meeting the lowest chapter requirements – to superior after executive committee members Meredith Burbank, Jay Knight and Ashley Merritt attended the 2012 annual meeting to learn more about Beta Alpha Psi and what other chapters were doing across the country.

“At the meeting, we learned a lot about the organization and what other chapters did to attain superior-chapter status,” said Knight, the 2012-13 chapter president. “We knew that we could do what all the other chapters were doing, so we quickly decided that this was something we wanted to do for our chapter. Even though it had been quite a few years since our chapter was superior, it was something we knew we could accomplish.”

After a flurry of activity and recruitment, the chapter jumped past distinguished status to the superior level, earning them the “most improved” distinction, said Eddie Nabors, faculty advisor and instructor in the School of Business.

During the year, the chapter initiated 43 new members and accumulated more than 1,800 hours of professional and service activities through their work with community organizations such as Project Homeless Connect and Birmingham Reads, as well as through networking meetings with representatives of national and local accounting firms, the FBI, IRS and others. The chapter also hosted 20 professional meetings and its first winter induction banquet.

“To be recognized as the most improved chapter out of 300 chapters internationally means a lot to our members,” Nabors said. “In addition to being a source of pride for a very significant accomplishment, it will look good on students’ resumes and help the recruiting process.”

Burbank and Knight traveled to the Beta Alpha Psi national conference in Anaheim, Calif., in August with UAB seniors Amanda Reidy and Anna Tillman to receive the award and learn best practices.

“National recognition is important because it shows Beta Alpha Psi, UAB and the city of Birmingham that our chapter is dedicated to our mission,” Knight said. “We are helping to teach and grow future business leaders who not only understand the importance of professional development, but also the importance of community involvement and service.”